Bob Root was a pilot for almost 40 years. The first plane he flew was a T-34 at the Pensacola Naval Air Station while learning to be a Navy pilot. A 747-400 was the last plane he flew after almost 30 years as a pilot for Northwest Airlines.

Each day on the tarmac Bob took a deep breath, “Nothing quite like the smell of jet fuel in the morning,” he would say.

But it was taking a breath that got him. During a layover late in his career, in a public space somewhere in Paris, the deep breath he took contained a virus. The virus attacked his heart and by the time he arrived back at MSP, he was too sick to ever fly again.

Bob battled his enlarged heart for 17 years, switched from flying planes to playing golf, and from “the smell of jet fuel” to “the smell of mowed grass.” Then one day in a public space somewhere in Surprise, AZ, the deep breath he took contained a bacteria. A bacteria called legionella pneumophila- Legionnaires’ disease. He wasn’t healthy enough to fight off this bacteria and he died a few days later.

Nature combats airborne contaminants with positively and negatively charged ions. In the most pristine environments, in the mountains or near a waterfall, the ion levels are high. Those high levels of ions provide a natural ability to continuously disinfect the air. When contaminant levels are high, in cities, at airports, in buildings, the ion levels are depleted. The contaminants are not captured and we get to breath in the particles, gases and microorganisms.

For the past 50 years a technology has existed to mimic the production of positively and negatively charged ions. This technology is called AtmosAir bipolar ionization (BPI). Over the past five years BPI has been repeatedly tested and validated to be 99% effective against bacteria, 90% effective against VOCs (like automotive emissions), and 95% effective against ultra-fine particles. Across the country (actually across the globe), AtmosAir BPI is being installed in hospitals, stadiums, universities, schools, airports, office buildings and hotels. AtmosAir BPI is easy to install and has 0-36 month return-on-investment. The air in those buildings is cleaner, safer and healthier for the occupants and visitors.

About a month before he breathed in Legionnaire’s disease, my dad and I stood on the first tee of the Desert Springs Golf Course in Surprise. We both took a deep breath. “Nothing like the smell of mowed grass in the morning…”

Rob Root is a Sales Director for AtmosAir Solutions located in Minneapolis, MN.